The arrival of cherry blossoms in Vancouver is truly one of the most beautiful times of year in the lovely west coast city.
It's also a time of year where many contemporary eateries across the city create special food and drinks to celebrate the plentiful pink flowers, and the award-winning Vietnamese restaurant Anh & Chi is one of those spots.
Anh & Chi's bar manager Chelsea McNabb has created a striking cocktail feature that will be available until April 30, 2024. The recipe, which she has graciously shared with us, calls for an interesting mix of tea, Japanese whisky, angostura bitters and a raspberry-tea simple syrup.
The result is a drink that looks perfectly "cherry blossom" and is very refreshing to sip!
Anh and Chi's Cherry Blossom cocktail
1.5 Suntory Whisky
0.5 Green Tea Umeshu
1 oz Sakura tea and raspberry syrup (see recipe below)
0.75 oz Lemon juice
1 egg white (can be substituted with Ms. Better's Bitters vegan foamer if desired)
2 dashes angostura bitters
Add all ingredients to shaker and hard dry shake for 10-15 seconds.
Next, add ice to shaker and hard shake until frost forms on outside of shaker, about 15 seconds.
Double strain into a coupe glass and, if possible, garnish with a cherry blossom clipped to side of glass.
How to make the Sakura tea and raspberry syrup
2 Sakura black tea bags
170 g fresh or frozen raspberries
400 g demerara sugar
700 mL hot water
Steep Sakura black tea bags in 500mL of hot water for 10 minutes.
Remove tea bags, and transfer tea along with raspberries and sugar into medium pot.
Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, then decrease heat and simmer on low for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and add 200mL of hot water, stirring until combined.
Strain syrup into a sealable container or bottle and keep in the refrigerator to use as desired.
- Yield:
- 1 cocktail
